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50 States, 50 Guns

Let’s Get Rollin’!

As I scribble this, Utah bill HB219 sits on Governor Gary Herbert’s desk waiting for his signature. Given Hizzoner’s past position on firearm issues and the overwhelming support this measure received in the state House and Senate, it seems certain he’ll sign it into law within days (They did. Editor). When he does, Utah will become the first and only state with an official State Firearm: John Moses Browning’s M1911 pistol. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Yup; a State Firearm! How cool is that? Let’s say it again and let it sink in: The first and only state with an official State Firearm! This is what I call “a good start.”

Years ago there was a significant effort to adopt the flintlock Pennsylvania Long Rifle as that state’s official firearm. While it enjoyed popular support state-wide, the idea was apparently strangled in its crib by the usual entrenched political powers of Philadelphia. A handful of similar acts in other states were also shrieked down by hordes of hoplophobic harpies. Maybe this “first” could only have happened in Utah, but now, the time might be right to carry the theme across the country.

Utah is overall and inarguably a gun-friendly state, despite the effects of the Yuppie Invasion of the ’80s. The Lib-Leftie influence is mostly limited to the white wine & stinky cheese centers of Salt Lake City and a few smaller trustafarian* strongholds. It’s also the birthplace and family home of John Moses Browning, native son of Ogden, and the immensely profitable, jobs-creating corporate home of the global business bearing his name.

This made it awfully tough — and politically dangerous — for Utah’s gun-haters to vilify the man or his legacy. While HB219 was moving through the legislature, Utah celebrated John Moses Browning Day on January 24th, with hardly a squeak from the sidelines. Interesting, huh?

I’m a born and bred Missourian, and I would choose the Hawken Rifle for state gun. The Hawken Rifle began it’s birth near the banks of the Mississippi River in the Saint Louis area. To me it seems the most logical choice..